


Don't You Know I Need You

by shesbreathless



Series: schmico codas [13]
Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Anal Fingering, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Rimming, i hate these tags but they're necessary, throughout 16x01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 04:10:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shesbreathless/pseuds/shesbreathless
Summary: “You’re brave,” he says without even realizing it.Levi looks at him, surprised. “I’m having a breakdown about a patient maybe having a chance at living,” he points out.Nico gently tugs on the hair curling at the base of his neck. “Yeah, and that’s brave.”Or, alternatively, why Nico has such obvious heart eyes for Levi.





	Don't You Know I Need You

**Author's Note:**

> This was not meant to turn out the way it did, but I got way too into the idea of sex with a storm in the background, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so here you go.
> 
> Also: Nico, I get it, you love him, but that's so obnoxious. Please never stop.

“Is there anything I can do?” Nico asks.

He subtly runs a hand over Levi’s back, squeezing one shoulder and raising his eyebrows when he finds it surprisingly tense. Levi winces and sighs, only looking up for a second before immediately going back to staring inside the room and biting the side of his thumb.

“You know it’s not all on you, right?” Nico just goes for it. “There’s a whole team of doctors caring for him. Everybody is doing their best.”

“I know, but it feels like the best isn’t good enough this time.”

He sounds really affected by this. Nico bites his lower lip and wishes they were anywhere else so that he could comfort Levi properly; but they’re both busy with their shifts, so Nico has to make do with what he has.

Gently tugging on the edge of Levi’s sleeve, Nico gets him to free his finger from his teeth. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

It doesn’t sound like much, but it apparently works; Levi has a hint of a smile on his lips when he looks up at him again.

They don’t have to say it out loud, not here, not like this, but they’re both thinking of when the roles were inverted, Levi trying to drill into Nico’s brain that it was okay to forgive himself for messing up. It’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s close enough to make Nico’s heart flutter happily.

“I just need this day to be over,” Levi sighs.

“It will be, soon. Are you coming to mine when you get off?”

“Yeah,” Levi nods. “If you don’t mind?”

Nico desperately wants to lean down and kiss the side of his head, so he does. Nobody is paying attention to them, and Nico would dare them to say anything about it to his face anyway. Being so tall has its perks.

“I’ll see you later, then,” he whispers in Levi’s ear.

He doesn’t miss the goosebumps that rise on his arms.

“Bye bye,” Levi answers, taking a deep breath and opening the door to walk back into the room.

Nico steps away, but he turns around to look at Levi’s sad posture once more. He makes up his mind in that exact moment.

-

Things don’t go as planned, as they tend to do. Nico looks at the steaming pile of black stuff in the trashcan, absolutely does not scowl at it, and closes the lid for good. Experimenting in the kitchen is off the table, then – pun intended.

The noise of a key turning in the lock startles Nico – both because he doesn’t think he’ll ever get over knowing that Levi has that kind of access to his house, and because there’s still smoke in the room.

He hurries to open the window to let it out, only to be met with water splashing in his face. Apparently it’s now pouring rain outside, and Levi appearing in the doorway to the kitchen, hair plastered to his head and dripping water onto the tiles seems to prove that theory.

Nico opens his mouth to say something, but Levi just studies him for a few seconds, sighs, and keeps walking further into the apartment.

“Huh,” Nico frowns. “Babe? Is something wrong?”

Dumb question. Levi stops in his tracks, turns around, and glares at Nico. “Is something _not_ wrong?”

Nico lifts his hands in front of him defensively. Levi deflates even more.

“Did Jai…” he starts, but Levi shakes his head before he can finish.

“I don’t even know,” he whispers. “I was literally about to extubate, then Link and Dr. Shepherd stormed in and apparently he’s going to be okay, but I don’t want to hope.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nico takes a step closer. “It’s good to hope.”

“No, hoping brings to disappointment.”

Nico doesn’t want to say it, because he knows that it’ll lead to a fight for sure, but he wishes he’d had hope on his side when he went through his own problem with his patient. This just sounds like Levi is exhausted.

As if on cue, Levi looks up, and Nico can tell that his eyes are lined with tears. His bottom lip trembles, looking so small and fragile that Nico can’t bear to see him like this, so he swoops in to wrap him in the biggest hug he can manage.

They cling to each other for probably way too long, since Levi’s sniffling turns into a long sniff and then a disgusted noise. He pulls back to look up at Nico with a frown on his face. He looks adorable, but Nico still smiles sheepishly, knowing exactly what he’s smelling.

“Is something on fire?”

“It was,” Nico nods. “But it’s not anymore.”

He wishes he could somehow capture the small smile that appears on Levi’s face. He settles for brushing the hair off his forehead, still drenched in water.

“Do I want to know?” Levi asks, one eyebrow raised.

“I think,” Nico tries his best to change the subject. “You could do with a hot bath.”

Levi rubs a hand down his face, starting to shiver in his wet clothes. “Shower. And you’re coming in with me.”

And who is Nico to reject that?

-

It’s a quiet affair, the shower. Levi sighs way too often, but he still lets Nico wash his hair with his own shampoo so that he’ll smell like him for a while. Levi would usually call him a sap and splash water in his face, but tonight he just blinks slowly and looks away.

Nico gets lost in the way the artificial light reflects in his eyes, big and beautiful, and not afraid of letting every bit of whatever he’s feeling show through.

“You’re brave,” he says without even realizing it.

Levi looks at him, surprised both by the sudden noise in the echoey room and by his words.

“I’m having a breakdown about a patient maybe having a chance at living,” he points out.

Nico gently tugs on the hair curling at the base of his neck. “Yeah, and that’s brave.”

There comes that amused little smile again. “Are you drunk on something?”

“Love,” Nico doesn’t miss a beat. “I love you and your empathy and your big heart.”

Levi would deny blushing and blame it on the hot water if pressed, but Nico knows that he just likes being complimented like that. Nico happens to love complimenting him, so it’s a win-win situation here.

“It’s good to not just shove it all down,” Nico says. “You and I both know how bad it was when I did it.”

“It’s different,” Levi mumbles. “I have absolutely no power over this.”

“Exactly,” Nico shrugs. “So you know that besides doing everything you can, which you already are, it’s not on you to make this work.”

Levi sighs. “I know. I’m not, like, delusional. I’m just sad and tired.”

“And that’s what I’m here for,” Nico beams, spreading his arms invitingly.

Thankfully, Levi chuckles and walks into them, wrapping his own arms tight around Nico’s waist and laying his head right over his heart.

“Thank you,” he whispers into Nico’s skin.

“Thank _you_,” Nico kisses his forehead.

“Me? For what?” Levi frowns, bending his head back to look up at him.

Nico huffs. “Do you actually want me to say it?”

Levi just grins, cheeks rosy and eyelashes clumped together and making the green in his eyes pop that bit more. He’s infuriatingly pretty and he knows it.

“Thank you for being you.”

Even though it sounds like it means absolutely nothing, Levi seems to get it. He smiles and reaches up to grab the back of Nico’s neck and tug him down into a kiss. Nico smiles into it as he puts his hands on Levi’s hips, squeezing and pulling him closer.

A loud rumble of thunder suddenly shakes every glass in the house. Both Nico and Levi jump, staring at each other with wide eyes, hands holding tight to each other’s sides as the water still falls on them.

“That was scary,” Levi says.

Nico laughs, rubbing his hands up and down Levi’s back. “Let’s go to bed?”

Levi nods and steps back into the spray, washing off the last of the soap and letting Nico have a go at it. It’s a dance they’ve done many times by now, avoiding elbows and stepping on each other’s toes, unabashedly admiring the way their bodies look all wet and covered in suds.

Nico notices that Levi looks flushed and happier now, probably thanks to not being under the freezing cold rain anymore. He likes to think that his presence has something to do with it as well.

Once they both step out of the shower and put on some underwear after half-heartedly drying themselves, they stumble their way to the bedroom and just crash down on the bed.

The rain is still pelting against the window and it’s so loud in the otherwise silent room. Nico turns his head to the side and looks at Levi, who’s staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression.

Tonight has been a whole rollercoaster of emotions and it looks like it’s just getting started.

Nico nudges Levi’s side with one finger. “Are you okay?”

Levi sighs and also turns his head. He reaches out and grabs Nico’s hand, pulling it over his own chest and sliding his fingers between Nico’s.

“I’ll be better if Jai responds well to the treatment, but yeah,” he squeezes Nico’s hand. “I’m okay.”

“He will. It’ll be alright.”

He doesn’t know that – actually, it looks like things are not looking up right now – but Levi needs somebody to be hopeful for and with him, and Nico is going to be there for him just like Levi was there for him when Nico needed him.

“We’ll see,” Levi smiles.

Lightning strikes then, washing the whole room in white and lighting Levi’s eyes up for just a second. He looks tired and a bit too pale, but his eyes never fail to leave Nico a little breathless.

He’s definitely feeling as sappy and cheesy as Levi usually accuses him to be.

“Seriously, is there something I can do?” Nico asks, voice quiet.

Levi thinks about it for a few seconds, then he untangles their fingers but doesn’t let go, instead pushing Nico’s hand lower on his stomach, biting his lower lip as he watches Nico’s face for a reaction.

“Oh?” Nico raises one eyebrow.

“It always makes me feel better,” Levi shrugs.

“That’s fair,” Nico chuckles.

He shuffles closer to Levi and rubs the hand Levi is still guiding downwards up and down his side, fingers catching in the elastic band of his pants and taking advantage of it to tug them down a bit.

Levi makes a little noise and tilts his head up in what Nico knows is his way of asking for a kiss. Nico leans in and rubs their noses together, smiling and pulling back when Levi tries to fully connect their lips. He pouts and bats his eyelashes and Nico never really stood a chance.

He cradles the back of his neck in his hand and kisses him properly, sweet and wet and everything both of them need right now. The rain is the only noise in the room, drowning out the sound of skin sliding on the sheets and lips quietly smacking.

“What do you want?” Nico whispers, moving down to Levi’s neck.

“I don’t know,” Levi answers unhelpfully. “Something nice. Slow. I’m tired.”

Nico hums, biting gently on his collarbone and smirking at the sound Levi makes.

“That’s not very specific,” Nico points out.

“You’re on the right path,” Levi breathes as Nico sucks a mark right next to his nipple.

Lips still attached to Levi’s chest, Nico hoists himself up and lies down between Levi’s legs, hands following his path and settling on his hips. The room lights up again with lightning, thunder roaring loudly after just a couple of seconds.

Nico stalls a bit to stare at the way Levi’s body looks in this light, small and flushed and all Nico’s for him to do what he wants with it.

“Want a picture?”

Nico kisses the soft skin under Levi’s bellybutton. “Yeah, kinda.”

Levi scoffs, but instead of saying anything about it, he just puts a hand on Nico’s shoulder and not-so-subtly pushes him down. Nico takes the hint and rolls Levi’s pants down, letting his cock spring free from its confines.

“Do I just have free rein here?” he asks, lightly kissing the underside of it.

“I mean, since you’re down there, you could put your mouth to better use,” Levi shrugs.

Nico rolls his eyes but still complies. He takes Levi’s cock in his hand and strokes it drily once, then wraps his lips over the tip and swirls his tongue around. Levi gasps and shifts his hips, getting comfortable.

It surely sounds crazy, but sucking a cock with a storm in the background kind of heightens the experience. Levi seems to be enjoying it as well, so that’s all that matters.

Sliding down further, Nico meets his fist with his lips, coming back up to kiss down the side and then starting all over again. He starts up a good rhythm, going deeper every time and listening to the way Levi breathes harder when he gets it just right.

Nico’s hands rest on the tops of Levi’s thighs, thumbs inching closer and closer to the centre of his body. An idea suddenly pops up in his head, urgent and pressing and unavoidable.

He slides his hands down and presses on the insides of Levi’s thighs, hinting that he wants him to spread them further. Levi nods and does so without questioning him, opening his legs and propping them over Nico’s shoulders.

“Don’t strangle me,” Nico jokes.

Levi does exactly that, squeezing Nico’s head between his legs and not letting go until Nico bites him. Levi yelps and releases him, but Nico follows him and sucks a mark into the soft skin, nibbling and generally bothering it until Levi whines and pushes his head away.

“C’mon,” Levi urges him. “This is not what I was promised.”

“Alright, alright,” Nico concedes. “Nice and slow, yeah?”

Levi nods and looks down at Nico between his legs, biting his lower lip and waiting for his next move. Nico rubs his hands up and down the tops of his thighs, watching the goosebumps that rise on them.

He taps two fingers on his side. “Flip.”

Narrowly avoiding kicking Nico in the face, Levi settles on his tummy, arms wrapped around a fluffy pillow and face buried in it. Nico is left with the sight of his ass, small but still round and firm, and just gloriously _there_.

He reaches out, hands covering both cheeks like they were made exactly for that, and leans in to leave a trail of kisses from the back of Levi’s thigh, over the crease between leg and cheek, to the top of his crack.

Levi gasps almost soundlessly, but Nico hears it.

“Yeah?” he asks, but he’s already using his thumbs to spread Levi’s cheeks.

He blows on the skin he exposes and smiles at the sound Levi tries to muffle in the pillow as the wind outside howls and it makes the window rattle. Levi jumps at the noise and Nico chooses that moment to lean in and lick a broad stripe, from behind his balls all the way to the bottom of his spine.

“Fuck,” Levi breathes, spreading his legs a little further.

Nico does it again, and again, and again, until everything is wet and slippery, and Levi shuffles backwards, hinting that he wants Nico to take it further. Nico does, of course, squeezing his cheeks and circling the tip of his tongue around Levi’s hole.

From his position, Nico can see the flush that keeps creeping lower, from Levi’s cheeks all the way to his chest, and the way his breathing gets more laboured every time Nico licks over his hole without properly dipping in.

Levi gets impatient after a while, reaching back and burying his fingers in Nico’s hair, tugging upwards to only hurt enough to convince Nico to hurry up and give him what he wants.

Thumbs inching closer to the centre, Nico stiffens his tongue and pushes it past the rim, licking his way inside, determined not to waste any more time.

Levi must agree with the sentiment, because he lets out the first real moan just as thunder rocks through them both, tensing up and rocking backwards into Nico’s touch.

“Get the lube,” Nico mumbles, never stopping his movements.

“Huh?”

“Lube,” Nico repeats.

Huffing and nodding, Levi raises his upper body on shaky arms and reaches for the bedside table, but Nico chooses that exact moment to jab his tongue in, and Levi collapses on himself, groaning deeply.

“Jerk,” Levi accuses.

“Alright,” Nico shrugs, grabbing Levi’s cock where it hangs heavy between his legs.

Levi moans and curses, words slurring together into one incomprehensible insult directed Nico’s way. Nico bites the sensitive stretch of skin behind his balls as an answer.

Still complaining but not really, Levi finally gets to the drawer and opens it, rummaging around in it until he makes a winning noise in the back of his throat and throws the half used bottle of lube towards Nico’s general direction.

Nico catches it and immediately pops the cap open, squeezing way too much liquid over his fingers and going back to licking over Levi’s hole with a flat tongue.

Levi wiggles his hips impatiently, so Nico hums in what he hopes is a disapproving tone. All it does is make Levi clench every muscle in his body from the feeling of the vibration traveling through him.

He opens his mouth to say something, most likely to complain some more, so Nico chooses that moment to fit his hand under his chin and slide one finger inside of Levi.

“Yes,” Levi hisses, arching his back and hanging his head between his shoulders.

Nico keeps going, buries it in all the way and pulls it out slowly, really letting Levi feel every ridge of it. He never stops licking and biting around it, Levi’s little noises spurring him on and sending sparks of pleasure down to his own cock, straining painfully against his pants.

One finger isn’t enough, though, so Nico slides it out and adds a second when he pushes back in. It meets more resistance but Levi seems to love it, groaning and pushing back against it. Nico buries them in all the way, then scissors and crooks them, pressing down inside Levi.

He knows when he finds that sweet spot he’s looking for, because Levi melts against the sheets and clenches down around Nico’s fingers.

Nico just has to reach down with his free hand and take his own cock out of his pants, sighing in relief when he gets to give himself a few strokes to take off some of the pressure.

Levi gets louder, hands fisted in the sheets and breathing hard, which means that he must be close.

Using his thumb to press from the outside, Nico massages that same spot and sits up to watch from above as Levi pushes his forehead into the mattress, clenches his muscles and holds his breath, only to release all of it at once and coming into the hand he has cupped around himself.

Nico keeps fingering him until Levi moves his hip and lets his fingers slip out, turning around to lie on his back and beckoning Nico forward with a satisfied smirk on his face.

“So good,” Levi smiles, knocking Nico’s hand off his cock and taking over jerking it off for him.

Out of breath but not one to ever refuse Levi’s hands on him, Nico shuffles forward until he can sit on his hips and lets him lazily pump his hand. It really doesn’t take long for him to curl on himself and grunt as he comes over Levi’s stomach.

He flops down next to him, trying to catch his breath as Levi props himself up on Nico’s chest and looks down at him with a big smile on his face.

“Good boy,” Levi kisses Nico’s shoulder.

“’m not a boy,” Nico half-heartedly complains.

“Yes, you are,” Levi insists. “You’re a muscly giant but you’re sweet and caring, and I love you.”

Nico couldn’t keep himself from smiling even if he tried.

“I love you too,” he says. “I hate seeing you sad.”

Levi sighs. “Likewise. Good thing we’re here for each other, then, yeah?”

It’s more than just a question and Nico can tell. He pushes Levi’s hair back and just looks at him for as long as Levi allows him, then kisses him until they fall asleep like that, still wrapped around each other tightly.

-

Jai gets worse before he gets better, which means that there are many days in which Levi comes home to Nico with dark circles under his eyes and sadness in his voice, and just as many in which he doesn’t come home at all, choosing to stand by Jai’s side to monitor him.

He wants to do everything in his power and Nico loves him even more because of it, feeling so proud of him when Levi tells him how he managed to steal a smile from Mari, on the particular day in which Jai’s stats remain stable the whole time.

There are bad days, horrible ones, and kind of okay ones, compared to the previous ones. It’s a whole journey and it never seems to end, but Nico watches Levi get through it with empathy and courage, and he doesn’t think he’s ever been this in love with anybody else.

The day Jai wakes up and they get to watch Mari find out is a great one. It’s a happy ending to a difficult story, but Nico looks down at Levi as he leans his head on his shoulder for just a second, and he knows just how much it’s worth it, all of it.

They celebrate in their own way as soon as the door of Nico’s apartment closes behind them. This time the food Nico cooks doesn’t burn, Levi happily eating it and then riding Nico on the couch as they whisper the dirtiest sweet nothings into each other’s mouths.

It doesn’t rain.

Nico falls asleep with a smile on his face and his heart full of love.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, let me know with a comment or hit me up on [Tumblr](https://shesbreathless.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
